


trails of fire

by gingerslapNotion



Series: Trigger-chan: Into the Triggerverse (and Beyond) [2]
Category: Promare (2019), 宇宙パトロールルル子 | Space Patrol Luluco (Anime)
Genre: F/M, LMAO, LMFAO - Freeform, M/M, WARNING FOR PROMARE MOVIE SPOILERS!!!, ignis and aina are there too but only barely, quantum entanglement pseudoscience but now its anime-flavored, references darling in the franxx, references gurren lagann, references his dark materials, references kill la kill, references kiznaiver, references little witch academia, studio trigger extended universe, the narrative density of love and friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-18
Updated: 2019-09-18
Packaged: 2020-10-06 02:44:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20499578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gingerslapNotion/pseuds/gingerslapNotion
Summary: Generally Trigger-chan was given free reign to explore new dimensions as she pleased as long as she reported back any relevant findings to HQ - but today she had been summoned by Over Justice himself for a special assignment. Apparently, a strange interdimensional anomaly had recently occured, one very similar to another event that had occurred thirty years previously. Back then, Space Patrol hadn’t had the means to investigate such incidents - but now, they had her.





	trails of fire

**Author's Note:**

> working title: crossover hell continues
> 
> HAPPY USA PROMARE DAY!!!!!!! i started trying to fit Promare into my crossover multiverse as soon as i saw it!! now it is done. please enjoy the shenanigans
> 
> (title is a lyric from "inferno" on the promare soundtrack)

Trigger-chan leaned forward on the handlebars of her bike, currently in orbit around the planet KZN-5. She often came here to clear her mind before new missions, as it had a relatively tranquil upper atmosphere compared to other planets she had visited over the years. The inhabitants were all (mostly) ordinary human beings, if a little melodramatic, and as such there had been no epic battles for the fate of the planet leading to excessive space debris.

Trigger-chan absentmindedly sucked a lollipop as she pondered her odd mission brief. Generally she was given free reign to explore new dimensions as she pleased as long as she reported back any relevant findings to HQ - but today she had been summoned by Over Justice himself for a special assignment. Apparently, a strange interdimensional anomaly had recently occured, one very similar to another event that had occurred thirty years previously. Back then, Space Patrol hadn’t had the means to investigate such incidents - but now, they had Trigger-chan. She was to travel to the dimension that the phenomenon had taken place in and investigate what had happened to cause such a powerful disturbance. And that was all fine and good, but what Trigger-chan was really hung up on was something the chief mentioned, something about meeting old friends of his. Even though she’d been working under him for several years now, she still knew very little about Over Justice’s life before Space Patrol - in fact, no one did. She _ had _ once met someone who claimed to have been his friend, when she was in hell briefly, but the encounter had only left her with more questions than answers. It was a puzzle to be sure; Trigger-chan had no idea what to expect.

However, there was nothing for it. She had a duty to perform, and she was going to do it. Plus, there was always the chance she might finally accomplish her own personal objective - and an “interdimensional anomaly” sounded like just the kind of thing she was looking for.

Trigger-chan finished her lollipop, revved her bike, and jetted off to PRMR-19α.

* * *

When she arrived in the new dimension, Trigger-chan found herself in barren desert full of spiraling rock formations, the sun beating down overhead. In several places the sand and rock were marked by black soot, tracing trails towards a large city in the distance. Trigger-chan followed these paths on her bike, slowly so as to be cautious of whatever had left them. As she drew closer to the sprawling metropolis, she started to notice debris strewn around - chunks of concrete and twisted metal beams, occasionally part of a building, half-buried, standing askew in the sand. Trigger-chan wondered if this destruction was related to the anomaly or if it had been caused by a different event entirely. From the outskirts she could better see how extensive the damage really was: the tops of building ripped clean off, roads torn by pieces of concrete, shattered glass littering the streets - and evidence of fire everywhere. The sight of it all gave her a sinking feeling in her stomach.

But as she went further into the city, she also started to see people. Sometimes just individuals, sometimes small groups, but all of them doing their part to help clean up the mess. People in red uniforms piloting industrial-looking mechas lifted heavy chunks of concrete into truck beds while others who looked to be civilians swept shards of glass off the sidewalks and removed smaller rubble. Kids on bicycles ferried food and water to those at work. Some people sat on apartment stoops and took a break, sharing enormous pizzas and talking amicably. Individuals with clipboards wearing bright yellow vests talked to the people in red uniforms, seemingly coordinating efforts. Some people who happened to be looking up from their work at that moment gave Trigger-chan confused looks as she sped by, but other than that no one called attention to her. She waved at passing delivery kids on their bikes. Everyone looked sweaty and exhausted, but it only made the fact that they continued working that much more admirable. The sinking feeling Trigger-chan had felt was gone now, replaced with warm pride.

The epicenter of the battle(?) was an enormous structure that had crashed into the ground. It seemed the cleanup effort was most heavily concentrated here, with much larger mechs piloted by more red uniformed people moving truly enormous pieces of concrete and propping up collapsed passages leading underneath the structure while boxy aircraft flew overhead, carrying more debris away using big metal pincers. Nearby, a blond man with sunglasses stood next to his car, clipboard in hand and talking on an earpiece. Something about how he carried himself made Trigger-chan guess that he was a leader in some capacity, so she approached him. He looked down at her, expression unreadable behind his shades.

“Can I help you?”

“I think you can! I’m a super-dimensional special officer with Space Patrol, my name is-” Trigger-chan began, but at that moment one of the aircraft began to descend next to them, kicking up a wind and interrupting her with its noise. The craft stopped a few feet off the ground and two rather unique-looking mechs jumped out of the back. One of the two pilots, a young man who looked to be about Trigger-chan’s age with a shock of bright blue hair and wearing the same red uniform pants but no shirt, looked back and waved, the arm of his bright-colored mech waving along.

“Thanks for the ride, Aina!” He shouted with a grin. A white-gloved hand stuck out the window of the cockpit and gave him a thumbs up before the craft took off again. The other pilot, a smaller blond man also wearing red uniform pants with a t-shirt as impossibly black as his mech, approached sunglasses guy.

“We just finished clearing Sector 3L, what’s…” he trailed off as he looked at Trigger-chan. “Who’s this?” Sunglasses guy just shrugged.

“As I was saying, I’m a super-dimensional officer-” she began her introduction again, but was interrupted a second time, this time by the blue-haired pilot.

“Hey hey hey! Are you here to help out? That’s great, we need as many hands on deck as we can get!” He said enthusiastically, his voice loud and his smile infectious.

“No… I mean, yes, actually, but,” Trigger-chan floundered for a moment before regaining her composure and saluting. “My name is Trigger-chan! I’m a super-dimensional officer with Space Patrol, here to investigate an interdimensional anomaly that occurred recently!” she said, cheerily but quickly so as not to be interrupted again.

“Interdimensional anomaly...” The blond pilot repeated to himself, the expression on his face a mix of incredulity and something else Trigger-chan couldn’t quite place. Desperation? “Do you mean-” But the blue-haired pilot spoke over him.

“Sorry, don’t know anything about a dimensional whatever. But hey, you’re like police but for space? That’s pretty cool! I’m a firefighter, you know, that means we’re alike, you and I!” He extended his hand to her, and as he did the hand of his mech grabbed Trigger-chan around her waist and lifted her into the air. “My name is Galo Thymos! Nice to meetcha, Trigger-chan!”

Frazzled but smiling, Trigger-chan took his hand and shook.

“Nice to meet you, Galo.”

“Galo…” the blond pilot said, but Galo either didn’t take notice or chose to ignore him. (Trigger-chan guessed it was the former.)

“Hey wait, Trigger_-chan _…” he thought for a moment, and then his eyes went wide and his mouth formed a perfect ‘O’ shape. “Are you from Japan?”

Trigger-chan simply nodded. (She got the feeling it might be futile to try to explain that she wasn’t from _ his _ Japan.)

“That’s awesome!” he shouted, the mech’s arm and his own both pulling her closer in excitement. “My granddad was from Japan! I’ve always wanted to visit someday - where in Japan are you from?”

“Ogikubo,” Trigger-chan answered.

“Never heard of it!”

“It’s in Tokyo,”

“Wow! _ The _Tokyo? For real? I was always told it had been destroyed by-”

“GALO!” The blond pilot shouted his name this time, finally getting his attention.

“Oh yeah! And this is Lio Fotia!” Galo said, the mech’s arm turning Trigger-chan around to face the other pilot, apparently named Lio. “He’s a firefighter too! Well, he’s in training, anyway. He’s also my-”

“Galo, shut up.” Lio commanded. Galo made a noise of indignation, but did as he was told. Lio then addressed Trigger-chan. “I think I know what the anomaly was that you mentioned.”

“You _ do? _” Galo exclaimed, the mech dropping Trigger-chan to the ground in surprise.

“Uh, yeah? It was...” Lio trailed off, giving Galo a meaningful look. Galo squinted back at him, clearly not getting it. “The…” Lio continued, the look intensifying. Trigger-chan could practically see the gears in Galo’s head turning and clicking into place as his expression slowly changed from confusion to recognition.

“Oh! Oh, yeah, huh!” He said, his fist pounding his open palm for emphasis.

Lio shook his head and said, with a soft smile, “You idiot.”

Galo turned to face Trigger-chan now, arms crossed, staring her down fiercely.

“Ok, here’s the deal, Trigger-chan!” he said authoritatively. “We can tell you all about the dimensional anemone, and the heroic story of how Galo Thymos and Lio Fotia saved the world - but!” his expression changed to a grin, hands moving to his hips, “in return, you need to lend a hand cleaning up this mess!”

“What do you say?” Lio asked, a challenge to her hidden in his smile.

Trigger-chan smiled back at them, and gave them the Space Patrol salute.

“That seems only fair, and justice is what I’m all about!”

* * *

Trigger-chan passed the day under the harsh sun with Galo and Lio, rebuilding the city she had learned was called Promepolis. Lucia, Burning Rescue’s resident scientist and engineer (who was strangely familiar, thought Trigger-chan couldn't place why), jerry-rigged a detached mech arm to Trigger-chan’s bike so she could help move debris alongside them. And as they worked, the two of them regaled her with the tale of their epic battle. Galo, an enthusiastic storyteller, did much of the talking, imbuing every sentence with energy and excitement. However, he also seemed to be unclear on some of the finer points and details of what exactly had happened, despite having lived through it, and in these cases Lio would jump in to correct him, sounding exasperated (though a few times, Trigger-chan caught him smiling even as he berated Galo for his empty head).

Slowly, Trigger-chan was able to put together the pieces of what had happened with what she already knew. Clearly, the emergence of the people known as Burnish had been caused by the very same interdimensional anomaly thirty years ago that the chief had mentioned, and the more recent one she had been sent to investigate was the rectification of that anomaly. Luckily for her, it would be an easy report to make when she got back to HQ, as the issue had been resolved before she had even arrived.

It got her thinking, though - the way the two dimensions and the lives within them had converged reminded her of something she had learned about from a girl named Lyra in her travels: the theory of quantum entanglement. Could the abilities, could the _ souls _ of living beings become bound to each across vast distances the way atoms of matter could? Trigger-chan didn’t see why not. After all, what was love if not people’s hearts being strung together across eternity? She wondered if that was what she had seen in the former Burnish Lio’s expression earlier - the pain of losing such an important connection, the desire to regain it. Trigger-chan knew it all too well. She could feel that thread of fate tugging at her still, letting her know this particular spacetime aberration was not hers after all. Another thing Trigger-chan had discovered on her journey: hope is often a double-edged blade.

(She also had at least partially figured out what the chief had meant by “old friends,” but once again, she was only left with more questions. Was he a Burnish too? Or was he a Promare? Did being a skeleton have something to do with it, or was that another thing entirely? Trigger-chan resigned herself to the fact she may never truly know Over Justice’s whole deal was.)

But hidden between the lines of Galo and Lio’s story, Trigger-chan noticed another, one that was still being written. She observed the way the two of them spoke about each other, the softness in their eyes when they thought the other wasn’t looking. Trigger-chan had a sense for these things - after all, first love and requited love were her greatest sources of power, and just being around them she could feel the sparks in the air threatening to catch, making her feel stronger than anything. From the careful way they spoke it seemed as though the topic hadn’t yet been broached, but she knew they could both feel it, even if they didn’t know yet what “it” was.

And this was not the first time she had experienced this specific feeling, either - she remembers a group of witches whose newly-forged friendships had left lasting change on the magical world, a young woman grinning with her girlfriend to one side and her long-lost sister to the other, a man just married to a wife now gone forever. Two teens who, though they had surrendered themselves to the eternity of space, could never be separated from one another. Lyra and her Will, torn apart in order to mend the fabric of existence. Trigger-chan herself, still looking for her lost love. She thought on how often those few at the epicenter of such bombastic and dire events were not fighting just for survival but for the sake of the bonds between themselves and others, and how new bonds were forged in the midst of that turmoil. It was as though reality itself was drawn towards the connections between people, bunching up and growing thick with excitement around old relationships growing stronger and new ones just beginning to form.

Galo and Lio were just another example of this phenomenon: their meeting had actually been the spark that set off the very same chain of events they detailed to her now, even if they didn’t recognize it; the story they had not just been players in, but the very cause of. Their union had saved the world and all of humanity, and now, like a wildfire, their alliance threatened to grow into something more; something stronger and far more beautiful. And as the day and the story ended, the three of them seated around a single massive pizza, Trigger-chan wondered if she couldn’t add a little tinder to the blaze. Love was justice, after all!

Trigger-chan stood up, stretched her arms high above head, yawned mightily.

“I ought to get going…” she said, summoning her bike to her side with a snap of her fingers.

“What, already?” Galo asked with a pout, “I wanted to hear more about Japan…”

“Your help was invaluable, Trigger-chan,” Lio told her with a nod, “You’re sure we can’t convince you to stay longer?”

“Truthfully, I wish I could! It’s not often I get the chance to help people, like _ really _ help people,” she answered, seating herself on her bike, “But I have to make my report to HQ, and then after that I’m off to who knows where!”

Galo stood too now, in order to properly see her off.

“Well, you should definitely come back someday! Just wait, the whole city will be like new the next time you’re here. Better than new, even!” He grins and extends his closed fist to her. Smiling, she bumped it with her own.

Then, she grabbed his arm just below the elbow, tugging him into a position where her mouth was beside his ear, and whispered -

“He feels the same way, you know.”

She let him go and watched with amusement as his face and ears bloomed with pink. Quietly, he stammered out, “Are you sure?”

She nodded, and his mouth snapped shut into a straight line, his body still frozen in place. Then, with a last wink at them both and a salute, Trigger-chan was gone.

As she disappeared from their dimension, she distantly heard Lio ask, “What did she say to you?” to which Galo responded, “N-nothing! Let’s get back to work, there’s still some daylight left…”

Rocketing away, Trigger-chan laughed to herself and shook her head. She supposed not everyone could move as fast as she did - in fact, it was physically impossible! As she shot between dimensions at the speed of imagination, she wondered when she might next get the opportunity to visit PRMR-19α. She hoped it would be soon.

**Author's Note:**

> this is now part of a series!! and yes, the title is a hint as to where trigger-chan may travel next ;) ftr, PRMR-19α is the human universe in which promare actually takes place, while PRMR-19β is the universe the promares live in. (i have a whole extended theory as to how the multiverse works that may or may not come up in a later fic depending on if i can think of a plot to couch it in LMAO)
> 
> SHOUTOUT TO PROMARE HELL DISCORD AND ALSO GUEIMEI THOT HQ!!! thank u for all the support i love yall sm :') AND A SPECIAL THANK YOU TO BOT (@botoluvr on twt) FOR THE AMAZING ILLUSTRATION!!!!!!!
> 
> find me on twitter @killiakill


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